An Instant CMA Awards Reaction: Old Dominion's Reign of Terror Needs to End
How much longer must we suffer?
I’m tired y’all. I am truly and honestly tired.
It feels like a rinse and repeat every single year. CMA or ACM nominations get announced, in the Group of the Year Category you’ll always see Little Big Town, Old Dominion, Zac Brown Band, and usually one or two groups who deserve it above everyone else. Every year, there will be a rallying cry for the more deserving groups to win it. Then, every year, Old Dominion’s name will be read as the winner.
I’m not an Old Dominion fan. Sure, I can tolerate their music in moderation. However, I’ll refrain because this isn’t meant to be a hit piece on them. It’s more meant to be me trying to answer the rhetorical question of when will it end?
Old Dominion has won Group of the Year seven years in a row for both the ACM Awards and CMA Awards. The most recent win coming just an hour and change of when this article will be published.
In seven years, Old Dominion has beat out the following (and better) bands for the ACM’s Group of the Year award:
Midland
Flatland Cavalry
The Highwomen
The Cadillac Three
In the same seven years, the CMA list has remained extremely consistent but still, Old Dominion has found a way to beat out Midland as well as one of the hottest bands in the country at the time of typing this, The Red Clay Strays.
Up to this point, Midland has lost so many times that when awards season rolls around, they just make fun of the situation:
(Some honorable mention extras: this one and this one)
I don’t know how voting for these shows is done, likely a secret committee-type deal like the Grammys use for their award shows. I’m led to assume that labels also wine and dine said voters to try and shmooze them into voting for their artists. This might just be me, but if I worked for Interscope or RCA, Flatland Cavalry and Red Clay Strays labels, respectively, all I would do to convince the voters to vote for my artists would be to take them to see these bands live.
Anyone with a half-functioning brain who’s seen either of these bands live will tell you how much more worthy each of these bands is. Flatland Cavalry just wrapped up a homecoming week here in Lubbock. Seeing it capped off with two nights at Buddy Holly Hall was absolutely magic. I’ve said this to many friends over the past weeks since the shows wrapped but no band makes me smile more and no band inspires more joy in me when I see them live than Flatland Cavalry does.
The Red Clay Strays, on the other hand, just know how to burn a stage to the ground like few others do. If you leave a Red Clay Strays show with anything else to say besides, “Oh my God,” you didn’t actually see them. If you aren’t able to see them due to every show within a 100-mile radius of you being sold out, they just recently released a live album compiled from three nights of performances at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Trust me though, listening to it is only half as good as letting them melt your face off live.
The Highwomen are another group that I think was very worthy of beating out Old Dominion in their years nominated. A supergroup comprised of Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby, the quartet put out a record that’s still criminally underrated and some of the best work the four have ever worked on together. Crowded Table is still one of the most gorgeous country songs released in the past decade, in my humble opinion. How Old Dominion and a song like One Man Band beat them when placed head to head still baffles me.
I understand Old Dominion’s appeal. It’s dumb, fun, occasionally hooky, mainstream country music. That’s something that appeals to a lot of people. You know who else makes dumb, fun, mainstream country music that’s always hooky? Midland, who would look a lot better winning this award every couple of years. Especially following the release of one of my favorite albums of this year, Barely Blue.
Even compared to the other bands that are always nominated, Old Dominion continually feels like the weakest link. Zac Brown Band, despite recent studio work being so-so, is still full of incredibly talented musicians. Little Big Town may not be the huge hitmakers they used to be but their harmonies still are rarely beat.
But the most upsetting part of all of this comes from the band being awarded this trophy at this year’s ceremony, a year in which all Old Dominion has done is tour, put out one single, and release a Greatest Hits compilation.
I could say more but I think I’ll wrap this here to save from just saying dumb things trying to find a “gotcha!” moment. I’ll ask one more time to close out: How much longer must we suffer? And how much longer will it take for either the Academy of Country Music or the Country Music Association to realize that Old Dominion isn’t the only group that exists in country music?
At least Cody Johnson won.